Anyone tried Light Therapy ? - Energy problems
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Hey guys!
My question is simple, is anyone tried light therapy?
I have some problem with my energy and I often need a nap in the afternoon. Even if I've improved my meal habits, sleep time etc... I'm still struggling with lack of energy and focusing. It's driving me completely crazy and it ruin my study time. That's why I'm looking for any good tips to get me back on track.
Thank you guys!
My question is simple, is anyone tried light therapy?
I have some problem with my energy and I often need a nap in the afternoon. Even if I've improved my meal habits, sleep time etc... I'm still struggling with lack of energy and focusing. It's driving me completely crazy and it ruin my study time. That's why I'm looking for any good tips to get me back on track.
Thank you guys!
Replies
I see that you have tried diet and sleep, but have you tried exercising at least 2x a week for about 30min - 1hr a session? I recommend this pretty often here and it seems to be the 1 thing that people tend to avoid when trying to have better working habits.
I go to the gym 3x a week for about 1h-1h15m each time. You can do 1 day before or after work (Wednesday for example) and then go back Saturday or Sunday afternoon so it doesn't' interfere with work too much. I start with stretching everything out that bothers me while working (quads, hamstrings lower back, etc), do 10 minutes of cardio, and then finish with weights. As a side note, if you do have lower back problems, don't neglect the hamstrings, they often play a role!!
As a result, I feel much more focused, have a lot more energy, WAY less anxiety (probably not noticeable anymore), more confidence as a result, and sitting for long long long hours is no problem at all.
I really recommend giving it a shot. Unfortunately, the first month will suck, but when you get to the point that it hurts good instead of just hurts, you'll really start to notice the benefits.
If you already have some sort of exercise routine then ignore this entire post.
Actually, I'm not doing any kind of exercise... I have an elliptical trainer at home and I've been doing it for about a week everyday, pushing myself everytime at maximum, after a 30 min workout I was directly going to sleep. I was literally dead/out of energy. But yeah that was before my diet improvement...
Do you think I should give it another try? 3-4 times a week for 30 min? Always skipping a day? I'm a total noob in workout...
Also I have a strict learning schedule at home, but I can make a place for training. When would be the best time in the day to do some workout?
There is my weekly schedule:
That's a really aggressive schedule.
Instead of everyday being consistently the same thing, devote a few hours in the morning and the evening to focusing on a project at hand rather than "learning software" or "traditional drawing". Having a project in mind and working maybe a few hours rather than an entire solid week may give you better results.
Studying with a book: It's just a period where I read books about anatomy, compositing, workflow, color theory, etc...
EricHall: This schedule ''3.1'' as been epurated, I've removed the part where I was saying: Do this project on Max, Finish this project on X with XYZ... It's just a schedule to remember: Okay from 1pm to 2pm i'm doing my drawing ( at the moment I'm finishing a book of drawing). You understand?
And yes it's a very agressive schedule, I'm doing this routine since more than 20 weeks now, I lost the exact count haha. I'm very motivated to be a modeler so I do everything I can to reach my goal!
I'm trying to do a lot of ''Micro-Reward'' and keeping track closely of my progress everyday to keep me motivated.
Edit: I'm also very conscious that the brain has limited time of ''learning hours'' and I'm jungling with that, switching from books to practicing when my brain start to fall off.
-Exercise! This is one thing that is so often neglected and you just can't. it relieves stress, it gives you better health, stamina, strength, confidence, and counter intuitively it's a huge energy boost as long as you eat right and sleep right.
-Mix your schedule up. It's very studious and will get you far, but you'll get there burned out and feeling like crap. Put some fun stuff in the weekdays. Go outside and sketch something in the street, or just walk around looking at stuff, take a camera and texture hunt. You don't have to just dick around, you can help your artistic side while still doing something. And talk to people while you're at it.
-Recheck your diet. Enough protein? Many people go "healthy" at the expense of proteins, which are pretty damn important and leads to a sort of foggy feeling. Enough iron? If not you could be anemic. Enough vegetables and fruits? Too many carbs? Too many carbs make you feel sluggish and sap your energy. Especially avoid sugars.
Doctor stuff:
You may actually be suffering from a deficiency, or have a medical condition, and if you truly feel that you're fatigued more than you should be it's time to do some basic tests and make sure it's not your body. Or if it is, make sure you know in time.
-Check your full blood count, especially hemoglobin. Low hemoglobin=anemia=you feel like tired all the time and might have dizzy spells. If it is low go to a doctor and they'll tell you how to proceed, though it's usually low iron.
-If that's normal check your thyroid hormone. It may be low, which is another cause of chronic fatigue and brain farts.
-If that's normal check your vitamin D. If it's low you really might need light therapy or supplementation.
-For the exercise, I'm really going to give it a try! For right now I'm poorly active.
-Actually for the mixing, this 3.X Schedule is less various compare to the 2.X for single reason: I really need to be better in Drawing, that's it! Day after day I was pushing my drawing time to the next day, that's why I've decided to include so much drawing in my week. The day I'll finish my drawing books, which starts accumulating dust on my shelf, I'll go back with a more diversified schedule. My 2.X schedule was including more art exploration: Clay sculpting, painting, visit at museum, photography, etc. I also know that I have to improve my skill ( Software/Drawing ) AND my artistic side ( Art exploration, art history, trying different traditional medium, etc...) if I want to be a good artist. You should see my Schedule 0.X, it was 40 hours of 3Ds max 8am to 5pm.
-If we go back about a month ago, I wasn't eating right, lots of junk food, I was drinking 2L of pepsi every day = 3.5 pounds of sugar and 14 cofee by week. I've quit smoking 1 pack a day about 9 months ago, no more alcohol/coffee/cola and I now avoid the sugar as more as possible. I only drink water and natural fruit juice. I drink a shake every morning with a lot of things in it (seriously a lot of things, I'm not going to write them all here) And another more soft one after the diner.
But I know that I don't eat enough Vegetable, that's the next thing I need to improve.
-I Already did the test for Diabete/Anemia/Thyriod and everything is normal. I also take drugs everyday for depression/anxious/obsession and another one for ADD (Attention deficit disorder). Those drugs are not the problem because I'm taking them since a long time.
-For the Iron and Vitamin D, I'll check for sure if they are okay!
Also it might be a good idea to reassess your meds with your psychiatrist. Just because they're been working for a long time doesn't necessarily mean they can't be the issue. Sometimes it's a creeping problem and you'd think everything's ok. In your case I'm fairly sure it's a lifestyle issue, but it's worth considering if lifestyle modifications don't help.
Also, Vitamin C! Vitamin C has so many damn benefits, including more focus and energy, and actually has been proven to help with depression and such as well. So, If you up your vitamin C, whether just a pill or two in the morning, or whatever, it very well could help you with the other stuff you already take meds for.
I was given one of the medical devices they use for light therapy from a family member who is involved in that area of science...
Needless to say... it can work, sure, but its not really an end all solution for staying awake. Its basically a type of conditioning in which you are telling your brain to be awake due to a type of natural light source, usually green. You could get the same effect just by going outside really.
What I found that helps me stay awake is generally a collection of little things that kind of all work together. Diet and exercise is big, drinking lots of water (even water with the liquid caffeine shots help... see MioEnergy). If you drink an energy drink or even coffee, drink water right before or after doing it. If not, it can result in crashing rather than getting more awake. Fidget a lot, the brain works well when you are doing something else on the side. Shaking a leg, flipping a pencil around your fingers, chewing gum...ect STRETCH OFTEN, have a routine. Stretching gets the blood flowing, sitting for too long with out proper stretching and you start to fossilize lol, I'm only half joking on that one.
If you get a bout of tiredness, do jumping jacks for 4-5 minutes. MUSIC also does wonders. Mix it up a bit, high temp stuff with the low tempo ambient stuff, though if you are tired avoid the low temp. Also try Binaural Beats, its a sound wave that helps the brain focus. You can find tons of youtube videos with it, its annoying at first but once you get used to it then its not so bad. Find one that has another tune along side it, or play some non vocal music alongside the beat. Consuming Ginseng can also do wonders, though try not to OD on the stuff haha. I usually try to stick between 1000-2000mg if I do go that route. Make no mistake, you feel it, especially alongside something with caffeine and water.
Have goals, mix up the goals, be 10000% interested in whatever you do. The brain is easily tricked by such goals. If you start to get brunt out, take a break ..and by a break i mean stop and do something else for a day or two if you can. Burn out is bad, and its not always something you are aware of at first. Sleep can be the coping mechanism to try and fend off any depression that can result from burning yourself out.
Play games too, the emotional response you get from a good game or two as well as the act of interactivity can really help.
Finally, be happy.
If your problem really is just physical then try exercise, proper diet, caffeine(?). Also make sure you're sleeping well, as opposed to just enough.
But you mention depression and obsession, Which makes me think it's not just physical. I'd definitely avoid burning out. It can happen no matter how motivated you are.
As a final tip I'd recommend joining an indie game/ mod project. It's the best way to get experience and it looks great on a resume. Also it might help by giving you a clear goal.
I spent the larger part of 2 years isolated and learning to model by myself. There were bouts of depression and loss of motivation. I think that's just bound to happen if you isolate yourself from the outside world. There's more to life than your carreer. Don't forget to live your life!
I hope this post makes some sense, I feel like I'm just rambling. :poly142:
I use to come home from work (3d art) and want to go right to bed because this job and studying it is a very tasking thing on your mind so your brain tells your body you need to rest. If I come home from work no matter how tire I am if I run even just a mile my brain clears up and I get crazy amounts of energy.
Also an echo: If your really tire you should try and goto a doctor. More and more people are finding they have issues with their thyroid which controls alot of hormones in the body (This can make you super tire and have alot of mind fog) So its never a bad idea to get it looked at if you dont seem to have the results your looking for from the diet and exercise.
Cheers!
If you can, I'd suggest joining a gym. Working out at home is okay but part of the "magic" for me is going to a gym and having access to a wide variety of equipment as well as some social interaction since for the next month my entire schedule is sitting at my apt during the week all day..
And in terms of timing, I would wake up at 6:30am Tuesday and Thursday to get to the gym BEFORE work and then Saturday at 9am. I really like the 6pm to bed freedom and didn't want to be at the gym then (and it's more crowded at night!!).
I was in a similar spot to you before, where I constantly tried to "optimize" all the time I had in the day to do as many things as possible. I often sacrificed food and sleep, even though I lied to myself I was getting enough. I had lack of energy, and lack of creativity, because of this.
I also constantly beat myself up over the "poor" results I got of whatever I did, never really keeping track of what I did. This way it felt like I never progressed. I really recommend reading the Brick by Brick book/webcomic by Stephen McCranie. It touches on many subjects of how to BE an artist, rather than how to do the craft.
Since I started logging all the small things I do, and make sure I take time off, my energy and mood has improved substantially. It is exactly like an athlete training too much and who doesn't sleep or eat enough. The brain can burn out and it can even have damaging consequences.
Also keep doing your napping! There are a lot of good articles for why we need to nap more, not less. (Effects of napping on cognitive functioning, How Long to Nap for the Biggest Brain Benefits) 10-20 minutes for a quick boost, 1h 30 minutes (1 cycle) is perfect for the brain to catch up.
Don't underestimate the need for rest. It's usually not enough with just a couple of good nights rest. It takes time to recover, it took me 5 years to recover from burn out. Don't go there, prehab is always better than rehab. You probably have many years left to go, there is no reason to burn out the engine halfway.
1) It's normal if you push too far too fast, if you haven't worked out ever or in a long time your metabolism is not used to it and is learning on the go how to expend energy. It will get better over the next weeks but it's not a bad idea to lower intensity until it catches up.
2) Diet: Carbs will make you sleepy. Bread, rice, pasta, etc. Depending on your age it will hit you harder. You want more proteins as mentioned above and of course vegetables.
3) Water: 2L per day. Yep, you gonna piss a lot.
Soda and fast food (no matter which) are bad. Get used to water because soda contains compounds that fool your body into eating more. It also contains phoshporic acid and carbonated water. There are no benefits in drinking any of that stuff. NONE. Sweet poison but poison nonetheless. It's ok to have some from time to time but 2L per day? You must be rotting your teeth. Beer is healthier, believe it or not.
For a weird reason i didnt receive any email notifIcaction about your replies on that thread, so im sorry for my late answer. Seriously, you are awesome! I was not expecting even 20% of what you guys wrote! Thank you!
I'll try to answer my best by regrouping answer together:
-Doctors/Psychiatrist: I'm already followed by a psychiatrist for my medication. I'm also in Therapy with a Psychologist and meeting her every week or two, to be sure everything is okay mentally and sharemy preoccupations. I'm also followed by a social worker who helps me to structure my life, take my responsabilities, etc. She gave me the tools i needed to start a new life and to be able to build my life structure and not falling into an obssession pattern again or into the bad habits I used to have. She also helped me to balance my life aspects (Social, Study, Relaxation, etc.) My sister is also a social worker and she's helping me a lot, she gave me every trick she knows and all ressource she could. Without her... I would already be 6 feet under, because of my depression she litteraly changed my life.
-Drugs: As far as I remember, I always got these symptoms even before I was taking any pills. I'm actually taking Effexor for depression and Ritalin for ADD.
-Exercise: At the moment I'm not moving at all, no exercise. I definitly need to learn how to stretch. As an example, when I'm doing a couple hours of drawing, my neck hurts so badly! I found a professional coach to whom i told my story, so he decided to help me and build me an exercise and nutrition plan for free! Also, he's going to coach me and follow me trough my progression to be sure I'm doing things right. Starting by exercising slowly, ill be increasing progressively. I have a great ginger friend whos going to help me as much as she can. It's hard for me to not give my 2000% when doing a physical activity since I was born on a farm and working untill my body began shaking, and even then, i continued working. But I know I need to work on this.At least, I dont have this minding when it comes to my learning. I'm able to stop at 5pm when my phone rings and tells me to go eat. Even if I would continue working all night long, I dont do it.
-Diet: I'm going to check Vitamin C and B12 for sure! I'm actually drinking around 2L to 3L of water a day, I'm only drinking Natural Fruit juice and water, nothing else, no coffee, no soda, no beer. I'm actually taking a protein shake in the morning with fruits, vegetable powder, vitamins and other things.
-Lifestyle: I'm looking to build a new desk, I want to build an ergonomic one to help my back, because right now, my body is soooo twisted, lots of ankylosis and my articulations and muscles has shrinked like crazy.
-Weekly Schedule: To tell you more about my week schedule: My goal is to do 5X8 hours in my week, giving me a total of 40hours which is a standard work schedule. The reason why I have more than that in my weekly schedule is because, as an example, when I have nothing else to do after i eat, I do practice some software. I'm focusing on doing at least 40h a week, but when my 40h is completed, if a friend asks me to do something, I'll say yes for sure and priorize social activity. But if you ask me thursday at 1pm to do something, I'll say no because I have to do my minimum of 40hours.
-Sleep Quality: I think I get enough of good sleep, I'm feeling happy and relaxed when I'm waking up. I don't feel like I would sleep all day long, every morning when I open my eyes I just can't wait to do some art and instantly jump off my bed to do so.
-Doing something else: When my brain and body are feeling great, and I had enoiugh rest during the night, i tend to feel kind of « guilty » if I dont get to work and optimize my time. It's hard for me to say: Hey dont study today, you need some rest, and it's not because you are lazy or avoiding to do things today.
-Am I happy in what I'm doing?: Totally! For years, I was depressed and highly addicted to MMORPG and nothing was equal to the great feeling I got when I was playing, until recently. Since I'm doing 3D modeling at home and self learning, I feel the same level of happiness and motivation that i felt when i played video games. I'm working and learning with a smile on my face everyday, even if the job isn't always fun. There's never a morning where I dont want to wake up and get to work! I think this is called a passion am I right?
-Doing Nap: I don't like to do nap because when I'll get a job, I wont be able to do some, that's why I dont want to make a habit of doing so.
-Joining an Indie game: YES, for sure my friend I'll join a project when I'll feel confortable enough to model anything for a game. For now, I'm still not confortable enough to do anything low poly quickly and to have the responsability on my shoulder of modeling everything.
-Environment:i'm actually working in a small room, with windows and curtains shut, to avoid the sun to reflec straight into my monitors. To avoid the depression effects of not having a lot of sunlight, I installed 2x100W and 1x200W white lights. That way, even if it's raining outside, I can still work without too much decrease in my performance.
Please, excuse my english grammar and again, thank you all for your answers!
Sincerely,
Évan
Thank you, I'm currently reading it and it's very inspiring even at the first page!
To add my tidbit; I usually feel more tired throughout the day in the winter months here (winters can be long and cold in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). I've found that taking an extra dose of vitamin D (5000 IU), makes a huge difference. If you're not getting much actual sun (natural source for vitamin D), it can affect your energy levels. I usually take the supplement in the winter months (or extended periods of not much sun), and get natural sunlight the rest of the year.
Other than that (an iron deficiency can also be an issue; depending on your diet....but don't overdo it on the iron, plenty of leafy greens and some red meat will fill that void); everyone's suggestion of exercise is spot on....especially as we age. You should have a brisk walk in your regimen (at least 30 minutes, once a day); somewhere either in the middle of your work schedule (if it allows for it), or at the end of it. Fresh air, sunshine, and getting that heart-rate going. Shoot for around a 10-minute mile, to give you a good effect. Power/Speed walking is highly underrated. Less impact on your joints, and just as effective for you. I've tried a regimented schedule like you have laid out, and it never seems to work for me (not to say it won't for others); I'm always evolving my day's events and times for each. Everyone's different.
I do go for energy drinks or coffee when I need to get into the groove. I usually always listen to the same kind of music when I work as well so that the music triggers my mood for working.
But yeah working out is probably the best thing really, I'm not great at keeping my workout routine though! xD
Wow! This software is soooo useful! I'm already loving it! Thank you!
Never feel guilty about seeing the results though. Just look at them and figure out what is sucking time out of art!! Some people are super against it but glad you're liking it so far.
I don't see it as ''I'm wasting my time'', I see it as a motivation and make me realise how many time I can pass on this thing instead of this thing etc.
Cheers Beefaroni, all your answer are very appreciated!
Once again thank you, it's very appreciated and motivating!
You mentioned muscle problems -- have you talked to a doctor about those? (I'm guessing you have since you mentioned ankylosis but I thought I should check.) There are a fair number of health issues that have fatigue and muscle pain/tightness as symptoms. Along the same lines, when you're sick, do you tend to sleep more? If so, that may also be a factor. If I'm sick and able to do so, I'll sleep for 12 hours a day or more, and I've noticed that if I have muscle pain I'll start sleeping more as well.
On the non-medical side of things, I've found that doing certain things when I'm working every time helps signal to my brain that it's work time and helps bypass/override the urge to nap. What tends to work best for me is putting my headphones on and listening to certain music, especially if I can set aside certain types of music for when I'm working. Any small ritual should work, though, as long as it's something consistent. I adapted that from insomnia guidelines that suggest doing the same thing every night to signal to the brain and body that it's time to sleep. I decided I should see if it works both ways and so far I'll have to say that it does.
Also, since you've mentioned avoiding coffee, you might consider a single cup (or the equivalent if you don't like it) around the time you get sleepy. It can work in the short term to help you break the habit of the nap. If you don't tolerate caffeine well, try a Yerba Mate drink. It has some caffeine but it's tempered by other chemicals that are present in the plant and tends not to have the side effects that caffeine alone has on people.
Finally, don't apologize for your grammar. You're ahead of at least half of native speakers in my experience.
2nding the talking to a doctor advice
some of the vitamins can not get absorbed correctly if there's an underlying medical condition (low stomach acidity doesn't allow iron, b12 and many other vitamins to get into bloodstream correctly, for example.)
same with vit. D - we are supposed to produce enough of it in the sunny seasons, but even people in the southern states are more likely to have insufficient vit. D levels ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326598 )
I think my ankylosis come more from the fact that I've been around 10 000 Hours on a chair playing world of warcraft all day long, only moving of my chair to go to bed/bathroom when I was a teenager... And since this time, I've never been very active to lose the Ankylosis that I have accumulated. When I'm stretching, I can hear my articulations doing weird noises and ''kicking''
I've also started a challenge yesterday of doing 30min of eleptycal bike every morning. I wake up at 7:20, eat some fruits, ride the elyptical bike from 7:30 to 8:00, my heart beat is around 175-185 when I do exercise. After that I'm taking a shower and drinking a big shake made of proteins, vitamins, fruits, etc. My goal is to do it 5 times a week, monday to friday, for at least a month. For the moment, the workout does not give me energy when I finish it, I'm just feeling ''OK''. I've noticed that I'm way more sleepy when it's the diner and after the supper. I cannot do a workout in the morning and dont do a nap in the afternoon, I'm just too tired for the moment.
I'm going to see my psychiatrist in september, I'm going to talk to her about what you told me.
Also, because of new life schedule, for those of you who has read my ''new life schedule'' post, going from depressive to productive. I've recently got a phone call from the local newspaper and they want to do an article about the progress I've made in my life and use it as an exemple for other people. Kind of great new!
For those of you who could feel generous I've also start a campaign to gather a little bit of money to help me buy some books and stuff for my study at home because I'm work stop and money start to run out. Here's the link: http://goo.gl/GMqj3J
Once again, thank you all for these advices and I wish you all to have a nice day!
http://www.gunnars.com/how-they-work/
May I suggest to rather invest the money into a decent monitor and to create a working environment where its picture is clearly visible without reflections and without cranking the brightness up to 11, maybe adjust the colors of your UI's and get up from your PC regularly? Whatever works for you, but I have my doubts about the usefulness of those glasses, especially for artists.
I'm guessing here, but you most likely have what most of us get when being tense, while sitting and doing desk related work. In the image below you can see some of the deep muscles which connects to the scapula. When we get slightly stressed, we tend to tighten/pull our scapula and shoulders up a little bit. These muscles start to get sore after a prolonged period of stress. (the upper part is conveniently named levator scapulae) Is this perhaps the muscles that are feeling painful? They can be deceiving as the pain can be mistaken for a "headache".
I had a lot of problems with these muscles before, sometimes getting jolts of pain up my neck. After changing my work posture to something more leaned back/relaxed, combined with mobility/stretch exercises and strength training, it's mostly gone now. It has taken me a few years to get rid of it. It tends to come back when I fall back into bad habits though. I haven't had the need to do these exercises with a schedule, I only go through the neck/upper back, muscle by muscle, when I feel sore to relieve tension. Luckily, most of these muscles can be reached with one arm, to do light massage, while you're working with the other arm. Doesn't need any instructions, you'll feel it when you reach the sore spot.
Making sure to breath properly helps us relax while working, and taking small breaks just to look around and let the neck move, can be enough to remedy neck pains. It is also a perfect opportunity to rest your eyes on something in the distance. The eye muscles can tighten up and result in temporary nearsightedness, "tired eyes", so give them a break too.
Thanks for the reminder, I have always been curious to get a pair of these.
Changing displays wont really do it. Speaking of which, one of my displays cost around $2000 and its made by wacom...if you get my drift. Suggesting the removal of such a display as a solution isnt really a solution at all.
I own 3 different pairs of Gunnar and generic brand computer glasses, they work and they work well. They are selling well because they work. Also notice the type of light thats being reflected off the lenses. The blue/violet reflection is key to how they work.
To illustrate their effectiveness, my GF who is a compositor in the film industry took a pair of my computer glasses to work, as a result her fellow compositors tried out the glasses and now half the workers over there are using their own.
I can vouch for them, wish I had them years ago. Highly recommend you give it a shot.
No thanks, I'm good.
Sorry if going off-topic.